LIVING A FIERCE CHRISTIAN LIFE

Month: November 2016

David comes from a lineage of great men. He was the 10th generation in the line of Judah, one of his ancestors fled from Egypt with Moses and his great-grandfather was Boaz, a well-respected judge in Israel. So let’s just say poor David had a lot to live up to.

Despite his prestigious heritage his family did not think much of him. He wasn’t given the most important job in the family. He was simply cast aside to tend to the sheep.

David was in the fields doing what his father told him to do. He was tending to the sheep obediently when Samuel asked Jesse to summon his youngest son.

In I Samuel 16:11-13 the story unfolds as follows:

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Samuel anointed David in private. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David and he simply returned to the fields to continue waiting and preparing for the Lord’s next move.

David was physically unchanged. His circumstances were also unchanged. But spiritually he was changed forever.

During my short 27 years on earth I have come to realize that God likes to do things in private. He likes to work in me in private. God likes to lead me into my green field and simply instructs me to obey His word, His instruction.

He doesn’t leave me there. He sits with me and teaches me what I need to learn.

God is like the potter who places your new mould into the oven. No one else is in the room. No one else is prepared to stand near the heat waiting for your mould to be set. Just your potter waits anxiously for you to set.

Although I would like to rush through my time in the field, I have come to realize that this is where the learning happens. This is His classroom and I need to be still in order to understand the lesson.

I will be honest and say that I find the idea of waiting around in a field frustrating. Actually the whole concept of waiting is frustrating, especially when I feel like others around me are moving forward in their lives.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:4 NKJV

But then I am reminded that David was a very young boy, some say he was 10 years old when he was anointed as king. He wasn’t ready to be king and he definitely wasn’t ready to lead a nation but this time in the field alone with God prepared him for the role.

Being in the field will develop you for the next season. It will teach you to trust Him when there is nothing left. Although David was anointed as king he would have to wait 15 years and continue working as a Shepard boy before he was ready for the job ahead.

I encourage you to read the remainder of David’s story to get a better understanding of what he endured along the road to becoming king.

David had a few lessons to learn before God would lead him into the next season.

Firstly, David was taught faithfulness in his work with the sheep. Leading sheep was preparation for leading God’s people. I admire him for being faithful to a daily routine. I am sure leading sheep wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Perhaps you’re like me and feel like you’re simply going through your daily routine. Don’t underestimate the value of faithfulness and sticking to the program. What you are doing now is going to serve to open a door, create an opportunity or take you to something bigger.

Secondly, David had to learn to trust God. In I Samuel 17 David shares his account of the attack from a lion and a bear. He killed both by himself, and he gave God the credit for helping him do so. David knew how to face threats and how to use the weapons God gave him because he was prepared. He trusted in God.

Finally, David learnt that the fields were preparation. God is all about preparation. The prophets prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. Even John the Baptist was sent to “prepare the way” for people to recognize the Messiah. Jesus Himself was sent into the desert of testing for a time of preparation before beginning His earthly ministry. He is all about preparation because He sees where we are headed. He goes before us.

I know that everyone’s “green field” is different. Some fields may be dry and barren and some may take longer than expected but remember this, God is the experienced Shepard and he knows exactly how much preparation time you need.

Learn to love your preparation time in the field. Learn to trust the process and most importantly learn to trust Him.

If you are anything like me then you will always give yourself enough time to plan and pack for a long journey. Enough time to gather all your things and ensure that you haven’t forgotten anything.

However, I have come to realize that God can and will pluck you out of a season unexpectantly and move you into the next season without warning or preparation. Without time to plan and pack.

The scripture in Matthew 8:21-22 is a constant reminder of this scenario. This scripture talks about a particular disciple who was called by Jesus to follow Him, but instead of leaping at the opportunity he asked if he could first bury his father.

I suppose that this response from Jesus may be shocking to some but I do not think it is meant to be taken literally.

Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Matthew 8:21-22 ESV

Jesus did not want this disciple to stay and get distracted/caught up in the things of this world. This would merely delay God’s calling on his life. Instead Jesus commands that he simply follow Him. Period.

I can relate to this story in so many ways.

More than a year ago now, God started stirring something in my heart. I started feeling restless and anxious waiting for the next season to come.

Chris and I started thinking about him pursuing a medicine degree again (this was after he had given up on this dream more than 9 years ago).

We felt a prompting from the Lord to start praying for this to happen. For God to open a door somewhere.

Within a month we had made the decision to pack up our lives and leave behind everything and everyone we loved and move to……wait for it…….. Accra, Ghana!

I know you’re thinking how on earth did that happen, but that is a story for another day.

When we felt as if all was lost, God made a way for us in Accra, Ghana. Everything came together perfectly. We sold everything we owned and packed two suitcases each and travelled here with our fur-kids.

Chris wasn’t accepted into the med-school yet but we trusted God’s “travel plans” and embarked on this voyage anyway.

I am a firm believer in the scripture which says that the Lord works all things together for the good of those who love him. I trusted God with everything I had. I believed that this was His ultimate plan for us and climbed into the boat with Him.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

The Holy Spirit was the wind in our sails and Jesus was the Captain of our boat. Everything else was insignificant.

But….He never said the voyage would be smooth sailing.

He never said there wouldn’t be stormy days.

He never said I wouldn’t feel sea sick sometimes and beg Him to take me out the boat.

He never said the season we were sailing into would be a perfect season, a land of milk and honey if you will.

But he did promise that He would be with us through it all.

So here I sit, writing my blog post in a not so perfect season. Feeling a little sea sick from the journey and begging to get out.

But I know His ways are higher than my ways. I know that He is teaching me to hold onto Him when my sea legs buckle underneath me.

He is the skilled sailor who knows where we are headed. He is in control of the waves and the wind that guides me.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:8

It is not our job to determine which way we want the wind to blow, but to adjust our sails to the direction in which the wind of the Holy Spirit is already blowing.

So Lionesses what I’m saying is this.

You will never be ready for the voyage.

You will never have perfect sailing weather every day.

But if you can cling to His promises you will never have to worry about your destination or question the reason for the journey.